II Corinthians 11:1-5

INTRODUCTION:

In chapters 10-13 Paul is defending his apostolic authority. In 11:1-15 Paul asserts his
apostleship and in 11:16-33 indicates that his sufferings for Christ demonstrate his
apostleship.

Paul is hesitant to speak about himself; so, in 11:1 he asks the Corinthian believers to put up
with it. In verse 2, Paul indicates that he has a fervent and godly zeal for the Corinthian
believers because he has espoused them to Christ); but according to verse 3, Paul fears
that Satan may have corrupted their minds from the truth in the person and work of
Christ. According to verse 4, Paul fears that they might tolerate it if someone preaches a
Jesus who is not the same Jesus he preached, or if they have received a spirit different
from the Holy Spirit, or if they have received a gospel different from the one he preached.
In verse 5 Paul, speaking sarcastically, supposes that he is not lacking in anything which
characterizes the super apostles who have come to Corinth and are undermining his
ministry there.

II Corinthians 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and
indeed bear with me.

In verse 1 Paul expresses his desire that his readers would put up with him in a little
foolishness.

Would to God is an expression of a wish that something would take place and is
understood as O that or Would that.

Ye could bear with me, where ye is you (plural) and refers to the Corinthian believers
and where me refers to Paul, suggests, You could regard me with tolerance. It is
understood in the sense of, You could endure me, You could bear with me, or, You
could put up with me. Its tense indicates Paul's desire has not been attained.

A little suggests a little bit or for a little while.

In my folly is in (my) foolishness.

Folly suggests a lack of prudence or good judgment, foolishness, or a lack of sense.

And indeed is emphatic and understood as but indeed, but in fact, or but certainly.

Bear with me, where me refers to Paul, is, You are bearing with me, You are regarding
me with tolerance, You are enduring me, or, You are putting up with me.

II Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

In verse 2 Paul explains that he has a godly jealousy for the Corinthian believers. He has
espoused them to Christ that he might someday present them to Christ as a chaste
virgin.

For introduces a cause or reason Paul wants the Corinthian believers to bear with him a
little in his folly and is understood in the sense of because.

I am jealous over you with godly jealousy suggests it was a pure jealousy. They were
God's children, and he wanted God's best for them. He did not want them getting
involved in sin.

For may be used to clarify what Paul has said in the sense of you see; or it may be
emphatic in the sense of indeed or in fact.

I have espoused you suggests I have joined you. In this context it is understood in the
sense of I have betrothed you. It has been translated in a way which emphasizes the
result of its action.

To one husband, where the husband in question is Christ. He is the One to Whom Paul
has betrothed the Corinthian believers.

That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ is used to show purpose or
intended result. It expresses the reason Paul betrothed the Corinthian believers to
Christ.

That is in order that, for the purpose that, or so that.

I may present you suggests a one-time presentation of this local church to Christ
which will take place in heaven after the rapture.

As a chaste virgin, where chaste means pure or innocent and where virgin speaks of
a young woman of marriageable age with a focus on virginity. In this context it
refers to the congregation or church in Corinth. It is not a reference to a universal
church.

To Christ indicates the One to Whom Paul desires to someday present the church in
Corinth as a pure virgin. This verse indicates that it is the church in Corinth which
Paul desires to present as a bride to Christ and not merely the individual believers.
What is true of the church in Corinth as the bride of Christ is also true of other
local churches throughout the church age. However, there may be some churches,
possibly including the church at Corinth, which would not qualify Biblically as a
chaste virgin bride of Christ, such as those which fall into doctrinal or practical
error. This is why Paul is jealous over the believers in Corinth, earnestly desiring
them to do what is right before the Lord, in order that he might be able to present
them as a chaste virgin to Christ. It is also why he fears that Satan might corrupt
their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ (verse 3).

For indeed I am jealous over you.

Old Testament examples of jealousy

Cain is jealous of Abel and murders him.

Joseph's brothers are jealous of him and sell him as a slave.

Saul is jealous of David and tries to murder him.

New Testament examples of jealousy

The disciples become jealous of the man who casts out devils in the name of the Lord
and ask about destroying him.

The Scribes and Pharisees are very jealous of Christ and stirred up the emotions of
the crowd to crucify Him.

Is jealousy always wrong? It can't be because God is described as being a jealous God.

Exodus 20:3-5 - 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Joshua 24:14-20 - 14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and
in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the
flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to
serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which
your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the
Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the
LORD. 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake
the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us
up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which
did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we
went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18 And the LORD drave
out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land:
therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 19 And Joshua said unto
the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God;
he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If ye forsake the LORD,
and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after
that he hath done you good.

Ezekiel 39:25 - Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be
jealous for my holy name;

God's jealousy is based on the fact that He alone is God.

How can we tell the difference between good jealousy and bad jealousy?

1. Paul is jealous with a godly jealousy, i.e. a jealousy of God.

2. Paul is jealous over or for the Corinthian believers. He is not jealous of the
Corinthian believers.

For what is God jealous?

Exodus 20:2-3 - 1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy
God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

He wants no rivals.

He is concerned for the character of His people.

How did God demonstrate His jealousy?

By providing salvation on the cross of Calvary instead of destroying the world

Paul is jealous over the Corinthian believers with a godly jealousy. Why? II
Corinthians 11:2 - For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

He was their spiritual parent.

Hence, he could betroth the church in Corinth to someone. Betrothal of a maiden
implies purity and faithfulness; she is committed to the one man to whom she is
engaged to be married.

Paul stresses the word one (i.e. one husband). Just as the marriage relationship is
exclusive, so believers in Christ owe an exclusive loyalty to Him.

Paul desires to present the Corinthian believers as a chaste virgin to Christ at His
return.

II Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ.

In verse 3 Paul expresses concern that the minds of the Corinthian believers might be
ruined from the truth in Christ.

But introduces a statement in slight contrast to his desire expressed in verse 2 to be able
to present the Corinthian church as a chaste virgin to Christ. ruined from the truth in
Christ.

I fear , is, I am afraid; and its tense describes Paul's concern or apprehension for the
Corinthian believers.

Lest by any means suggests that perhaps or lest somehow.

As introduces a statement which is intended to be compared with a second statement
introduced by so. As introduces the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, and so
introduces your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The serpent is the snake and refers to Satan tempting Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Beguiled Eve suggests caused Eve to accept false ideas and is understood in the sense of
deceived or cheated, i.e. ruined from the truth in Christ.

Through his subtilty, where subtilty is used with an evil connotation, indicates the
means by which Satan deceived Eve. It is by (or by means of) his (evil) cunning, his
craftiness, or his trickery. There is absolutely no doubt in Paul's mind that the story of
the serpent and Eve in the Garden of Eden is literally true. It happened exactly as
reported in Genesis. It is not a myth.

So is understood in the sense of in this manner.

Your minds is understood in the sense of your understandings.

Should be corrupted suggests should be ruined, should be led astray, or possibly, as a
virgin bride, should be seduced.

From the simplicity suggests away from the sincere (or single-hearted) devotion.

That is in Christ is the (sincerity) in Christ, the sincere devotion in Christ, the single-hearted devotion in Christ, which suggests the single-hearted devotion in the person
and work of Christ.

Who is going to corrupt the Corinthian believers' minds from the simplicity and
purity that is in Christ?

Satan - I Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

What instruments will Satan use?

The "super" apostles - i.e. the false apostles in Corinth

What instruments is Satan using today?

Acts 20:28-30 - 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which
he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them.

All of our beliefs and all of our practices must based solidly on the Scriptures as our
only authority for faith and practice.

II Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have
not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another
gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

For is explanatory of Paul's concern mentioned in verse 3 and is understood in the sense
of because. The structure of verse 4 is that of a conditional statement and indicates
that, for sake of discussion, its condition is assumed to be true. The condition is if he
that cometh preacheth another Jesus . . . or if ye receive another spirit, . . . or another
gospel. . . . The conclusion of the condition is ye might well bear with him. Although
the condition is assumed for sake of discussion to be true, it may or may not actually
be true. For this reason, if should be understood in the sense of assuming that.

He that cometh is the one who comes or the one coming. He that cometh functions as the
subject of preacheth.

Preacheth is preaches, proclaims, is preaching, or is proclaiming. Another Jesus is
another Jesus of the same kind; yet, it is not the same Jesus Paul is proclaiming. There
is no other Jesus of the same kind; and any other Jesus of the same kind or even of a
different kind would not be God the Son Who died on the cross to save all humanity
from their sins. Any other Jesus would be a rival to Jesus, the Second Person of the
Trinity. Another Jesus has been placed in a position of emphasis in the Greek text,
which reads literally, For indeed assuming that the one coming another Jesus
preaches.

Whom we have not preached, where whom refers to this different sort of Jesus and we
is Paul, is used to describe this other Jesus. Since there is no other Jesus as the Jesus
Paul preached (and never has been or ever will be), this Jesus is imaginary, a figment
of someone's (such as Satan's) overactive imagination, and hypothetical. The Jesus
preached by the cultists is always a different Jesus than is presented in the Bible.

We have not preached is we did not preach or we did not proclaim. Paul emphasizes
that there is only one Jesus, the Son of God, Who is the Savior of the world. He is the
One Paul preached; and if any other Jesus, whether similar or different, is preached,
the preaching is false.

This is why, whenever you examine the beliefs of a cult, they will always be wrong on the
2nd Person of the Trinity. They will always be wrong about Christ.

Or introduces a second part of the condition: if ye receive another spirit. If has been
supplied by the translators to indicate that the condition continues.

Ye receive is you are receiving, you are getting, or you are obtaining). Its present
tense is descriptive of something which might be happening.

Another spirit speaks of another spirit of a different kind, i.e. a spirit who is not the
Holy Spirit. Inasmuch as this is a spirit of a kind different from the Holy Spirit,
whom they had received, it appears to be a demonic spirit or demon.

Which ye have not received is, Which you did not receive, Which you did not obtain, or,
Which you did not get. It has been translated in a way which emphasizes the result of
its action.

Or continues the condition.

If ye receive . . . another gospel, where another is if you receive another gospel of a
different kind (or of a different sort).

Gospel is good news. The gospel is specifically defined in I Corinthians 15:3-4 -
(3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures;

(4) And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to
the scriptures (emphasis added).

This gospel, which Paul refers to as another gospel, will not save anyone. Any change in
the gospel will render it a non-gospel. Paul addressed this in Galatians 1:6-9 - (6) I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel (i.e. another gospel of a different kind): (7) Which is not
another (i.e. another gospel of the same kind); but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him
be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (emphasis and
comments added).

Which ye have not accepted is which you did not accept, which you did not receive, or
which you did not take.

Well is all right but spoken in irony, which means that it is something they should
absolutely never do.

Ye might well bear with him, where ye is you (plural) and refers to the Corinthian
believers and where him refers to someone who would come and preach another
Jesus, is, You might tolerate (or be tolerating) him all right, You might put up (or be
putting up) with him all right, or, You might endure (or be enduring) him all right. Its
tense suggests that they might have a tendency to do this. This is answering what
Paul's fear is as mentioned in verse 3, that the believers might well tolerate these false
teachers.

Proverbs 19:27 - Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the
words of knowledge.

Psalms 1:1 - Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

In verse 5 Paul facetiously states that he was not inferior to the false apostles in Corinth.

For introduces a clarification of what Paul is saying and is understood in the sense of now
or you see.

I suppose suggests holding a view about something in the sense of I think, I believe, or I
am of the opinion.

I was not a whit behind suggests, I was not lower in status than, I was not less than, or,
I was not inferior to.

The very chiefest apostles refers to some who had come to Corinth after Paul left and
had sought to build up their own reputation by destroying his. They were really not
apostles at all.

He describes them as the very chiefest apostles, which suggests that they thought
very highly of themselves, and Paul is referring to them sarcastically. Some have
suggested that the very chiefest apostles refers to the twelve apostles, but this does
not fit the context as well as regarding them as false apostles.

CONCLUSION:

As your pastor, I am jealous for you folks in this church. I desire that godliness be a chief
characteristic of your lives. Hence, I teach you, I pray for you, I chide you, I step on your
toes, I encourage you, I push you, and sometimes I even drive you. But I do it because I
love you in the Lord and am jealous for your spiritual well-being. Other godly pastors can
say the same thing about their congregations.